refs Page 1 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Girls can talk trash, too
Depending on whatever echo chamber you’ve decided to inhabit on social media, the final of the Women’s college basketball tournament might sound very different than it does to someone else. I’m sure for all the genuine college basketball fans out there, and especially LSU fans, all there is is an ap...
We should be trying to find ways to extend, not shorten, college football games
Since when did we start caring so much about the length of sporting events? MLB’s rush to shorten games seems like a direct response to society’s inability to be bored for any length of time. My favorite thing to do on the train in the morning is tally the people who aren’t looking at their phones a...
Again? Seriously?
I’m tired. Of officials blowing big, important calls in the playoffs, mostly, but also of having to write blogs about them that try to say something more intelligent than well, it’s bad to get these calls wrong in such big moments, but also being an NHL official is a difficult job and even the best ...
What Happened To All The Interesting Refs?
One of the nerdier things a basketball fan can do at 9 a.m. Eastern Weirdo Time is to go to the NBA website and glom onto the identities of the officials who will work whatever game interests you True, NBA ref nerddom is an exceedingly small subset of Nerdvania, but let a thousand sets of hipster gl...
The Blues Got Screwed By Yet Another Officiating Disaster
Images the NHL wants to linger after an hard-fought overtime game: the jubilation of the goalscorer; his teammates erupting on the bench and spilling over to celebrate on the ice; the disappointment and hard-earned exhaustion of the losers, skating off in disbelief....
The NBA Got Out Of Basketball's Way
When Allie LaForce was dispatched to get a postgame interview from Tuesday’s Rockets-Warriors game, she or maybe her producer chose the sport’s third eye, Klay Thompson. Not bad, as these things go. Thompson is always a better choice than nearly anyone else for these say-little-and-then-go-inside se...
If This Is Rockets-Warriors, Let's Just Get It Over With As Soon As Possible
In case you ever decide to hate sports without the crutch of a rooting interest, financial, familial, or simply laundry-based, here’s your ticket. The pre–NBA Finals NBA Finals are already a drunken bar argument, and they’re only going to get worse. The Houston Rockets ... the Golden State Warriors ...
You're Not Supposed To Be Allowed To Do This
It’s not that points matter any more as the weather turns warmer—they count just as much in November as they do in March—but this is the part of the season where every blown, salvaged, earned, or gifted point comes with the attached hyperawareness. The Dallas Stars are in the thick of it, two points...
NHL Linesman Can't Stop Getting Gruesomely Injured
Capitals winger Andre Burakovsky suffered an “upper-body injury” on a big check in Sunday’s 5-4 overtime loss to the Blue Jackets, and will not travel to Columbus for the series’ next two games. He got off easy compared to linesman Steve Barton....
$13 Billion Industry Uses Folded-Up Piece Of Paper To Determine Outcomes
The Cowboys earned a first down tonight in a play so ridiculous it made the Steelers’ loss look positively pedestrian. The NFL uses computer chips in uniforms, pads, and the football itself—but the decision to award first downs still comes down to a technology so analogue it existed two hundred year...
Kentucky Fans Flooded Elite Eight Referee With 800 Angry Voicemail Messages
Kentucky fans left more than 800 voicemails for referee John Higgins after the team’s Elite Eight loss to North Carolina, seven of which have been flagged by law enforcement as threats. The messages were reviewed by police in Higgins’s home of Omaha, and those containing threats have been sent to re...
Law Enforcement Identifies Kentucky Fans Who Threatened Elite Eight Referee
Seven Kentucky fans who harassed and threatened referee John Higgins after the team’s Elite Eight loss have been identified by law enforcement, according to the Associated Press....
Dale Scott Immobilized, Taken Off Field On Stretcher After Taking Foul Tip To The Face
Dale Scott left the field in Toronto tonight on a stretcher as the 31-year veteran umpire took a foul tip directly to the face....
Report: Investigators Looking Into Death Threats Made Against Referee By Kentucky Fans<em></em>
According to a report from the Associated Press, Nebraska law enforcement investigators are looking into death threats leveled against John Higgins, the referee whose personal life and career as the owner of an Omaha roofing company have now been the focus of pissbaby Kentucky fans for over a week-a...
Asshole Kentucky Fans Are Still Harassing And Threatening Elite Eight Referee
It’s been 10 days now, and some Kentucky fans, when not shoveling out their overflowing diapers, are still making harassing phone calls to and trying to sink the business of longtime referee John Higgins....
Dean Blandino Explains Why Yet Another Hit On Cam Newton Didn't Draw A Flag
The latest edition of What Will it Take for Cam Newton to Draw a Flag? aired on Monday night, when a scrambling Newton slid—maybe late—and got hit helmet-to-helmet—maybe glancing—by Washington LB Trent Murphy. There was a flag thrown on a play: a taunting call on Newton for flipping the football at ...
Roger Goodell Vs. The Refs
I want to make a revelation that I truly believe—and have believed for a long time:...
Joey Crawford Fall Down Go Boom
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Ref Goes Down With Injury; Soccer Player Uses Spray To Outline His Body
Hartlepool played Oxford United yesterday in England's League 2, which is not great. Midway through the second half, referee Patrick Miller collapsed, clutching his knee with what appeared to be a serious injury. Not great, either. What is great, though, is what happened next as Miller writhed on th...
Study: Napoleon Complex Is Real; Shorter NBA Refs Call More Fouls
A new study in the Journal of Sports Economics finds that shorter NBA refs may call more fouls, in an excellent manifestation of the Napoleon Complex. Paul Gift and Ryan Rodenberg looked at 4,463 regular season games from 2008 to 2012, and—controlling for variables like race and experience*—found a ...